Spinlanders: a slots RPG – Preview

In the works since 2012 and crowdfunded, a new game called Spinlanders landed itself in the App Store this week. The brainchild of Backup Entertainment, a small independent studio, this game combines goold old slots and an RPG.

You get to explore the magical kingdom of Spinland, and assist with the recovery of the Queen that has been abducted by squashing monsters by spinning some slots. How can that possibly work, I was curious to know.

The game is terribly colourful and the music is cheerful; it’s impossible not to be drawn to this cute title at first.

However, we have to quickly realize one thing: it’s entirely luck based. Just like at the casino, you can’t possibly expect any type of personal skills you hold to have any effect on the outcome of the game. And when you don’t make a successful match, that when the monsters attack.

Various matches on the slots will translate to different actions on the screen: may be matching swords will create a strong combo to defeat your foes, matching some chain armor will increase your defense, etc. As long as you make a successful match, even if the slot only gives you coins, you will end your turn by an attack on the monster in front of you. You also get to use magic crystals to “max spin”, which means using more than one line of potential matches on the slot machine.

RPG wise, you get to level up your character with the help of a guessing mini-game: you have 3 squares and you have 3 tries to guess in which order they need to be tapped.

In true free-to-play fashion, if you end up in a jam, you can buy some potion for $1.19 and magically gain levels…

On top of the big quests that are thrown your way, you get some mini quests to keep things fresh, ranging from spinning the wheels 20 times to saving the village entirely.

The game was fun to pick up quickly. I feel my good luck was just pre-programmed beginner’s luck and the game gets progressively harder, without the base combat system changing at all: it’s just spinning slots here.

As a caution I wouldn’t allow children to play this game; you wouldn’t want to promote gambling to minors. Otherwise, it was a cute, fun, free title to pick up!